


To The Times I Was Human

by Human_Turtle



Series: The girl [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Ceiling Vent Clint Barton, Deaf Clint Barton, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, How Do I Tag, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, M/M, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Build, The Avengers Need a Hug, They can just be so mean to each other somtimes, Thor (Marvel) is Not Stupid, Timeline What Timeline, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, he's not great, i love all my kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-09 08:10:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18634225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Human_Turtle/pseuds/Human_Turtle
Summary: When IronMan flew, it was a sight to behold. The people on the world below him would look up in awe, and wonder. They would think "What an amazing person he is".But that was meant for IronMan.Not the man inside the suit.Not Tony Stark.And Tony was falling.So, so far.





	To The Times I Was Human

**Author's Note:**

> OOOOOOHHHHHH SHIT GUESS WHO'S BACK FELLASSSSSSSSS. I missed y'all, did y'all miss me? (Yes I used y'all unironically) Life has been kicking my ass but it's okay now, I hope, cause I have wanted to rewrite this story for such a long time. The issue was that I could never find the time or inspiration to do it. So I hope you all enjoy the newly rewritten story. Also at the end of the chapter, I will be asking about changes to the story, and if I should or should not make them, So if you're new just ignore the endnotes if you don't want any possible spoilers.
> 
> Thank you all so much for being so patient and supportive, this one is for you!
> 
> Ps. Don't spoil the endgame :)

When IronMan flew, it was a sight to behold. The people on the world below him would look up in awe, and wonder. They would think "What an amazing person he is". 

But that was meant for IronMan. 

Not the man inside the suit.

Not Tony Stark.

And Tony was falling.

So, so far.

But he couldn't fall, Not now. He had people to save, to help. So IronMan was flying, flying above his city, flying above everything he swore to protect. He flew higher and faster, but he knew it only meant he would fall farther and farther.

But that was Tony Stark's problem to deal with. And right now he was IronMan. And he had a job to do.

“Jarvis time?”

“You will arrive at the mission site at an estimated 2 minutes sir.”

“And the others?”

“An estimated 5 minutes.”

“Thanks, J,” Tony mumbled back, the howl of wind punctuating his words as he flew.

Thirty casualties. Thirty fucking dead that they knew of and they weren't even there yet.

Bullshit.

The briefing would have taken to long, he argued. He told the Captain that Fury could give them information on the situation in the jet and surprisingly Steve agreed with him. He was quick to get into his suit and fly as fast as he could, everything else be damned. The rest of the team were flying in the quinjet Steve once again agreeing with him, encouraging him (Insane right?) to just go. “Tony, what's your position?” 

“About a minute away Legolas, but enough about me, Jarvis says you’ll be there in 5 if traffics not to bad” He joked, smiling in satisfaction when he heard a dry chuckle from the other end of the comms.

“No time to chit-chat Stark. Just focus on getting a move on,” a colder more strict voice ordered.  
Tony rolled his eyes at Rogers’ 'I’m-Captain-America-and-I'm-disappointed-in-you voice’. He didn't bother to respond as he arrived at his destination, taken off guard by the eerie silence even if he was expecting it.

“All we know about the well being of the civilians is that most, if not all, have evacuated the immediate area” Fury growled. “So don't expect much of a commotion but don't be surprised if you find someone who doesn't exactly fit under the threat category”.

Landing without so much as a thump Tony immediately began to take in his surroundings. Looking down he was greeted with the sight of craters scattered across the street along with a bit of the sidewalk, a bomb would be his first thought if not for the shape of said craters. For starters, they were smooth and didn't have any cracks in them, as if someone sanded them down, and if that's the case then maybe they were made by a large drill of some sort? Tony filed away the possibility under ‘thoughts to bring up at debrief’. He looked at the surrounding buildings, some sporting more damage than the rest. His eyes fell to one in particular with really nothing special about it, just another office building like many in new york, Glass windows, which were now cracked, destroyed, or completely missing, lining the entirety of the building from top to bottom. Due to the damage done to it, It was thought to be the primary target.

In the hurry to take action, Fury had personally told them they would be going in completely blind. The few bits of information they had been able to get a hold of had been provided by one officer Garcia. Before contact was lost the last few things he reported was that first responders were attempting to create a perimeter and that the attack was being carried out by a group of heavily armed masked individuals. That gives Tony a who but not a why. It could have been an act of terrorism, but that doesn't explain why they stopped (seeing as terrorist want to cause, y' know terror), nor does it explain the craters in the ground. The officer had only described them being heavily armed with guns. Only guns. Maybe they did have something like a huge drill and he didn't see them, which would be very fucking unlikely seeing as it would have needed to have been a really big drill, but still.

Something was missing.

“Anything happening down there Tony?” Bruce questioned bringing him out of his thoughts.  
“That's the issue, Nothing's here,” He thought for a moment “I'm going to search the area, I suggest you do the same as soon as you land” He stated before heading into the supposed targeted tower he had been examining from before.

The glass doors had seemed out of place being in the wreckage of what remained of the lobby.  
“Stark, Me and Thor are gonna search within the police perimeter to see if that brings up any answers, Natasha’s going to search in the opposite direction of you, Bruce will be on standby, and Clint's going top side” Tony mumbled a quick ‘Roger that Rogers’ just for the fun of knowing it would probably piss the captain off. He walked further into the building without bothering to wait for a go-ahead, Already knowing he simply wouldn't get one.

He looked down at a sideways reception desk, noting how it was riddled with bullet holes and couldn't help but imagine someone using it to hide. Behind it laid a chair which had fallen on its side, most likely in a struggle or in the rush to evacuate the building. He swiftly made his way towards a corridor on the left side of what used to be the front entrance, following a trail of debris and bullet shells (The amount made him think it was possibly from an automatic gun of sorts) that made its way towards a door at the far end of the hallway. As he continued on he couldn't help but wonder why he couldn't spot any blood. Maybe it really was an act of terror and they were just shooting randomly into the building, he thought as he leaned down to pick up a bullet that wasn't used. The only way for this bullet to have ended up like this was if someone has reloaded and pulled back the slide to make sure they had ammo. But, If they were shooting randomly then why did they go through the effort of double checking to make sure their gun was loaded? He studied the small bullet, his experience with metals and (regretfully) weapons told him it was made of lead. It was a soft point bullet.

They had soft point bullets.

“Fuck” He exhaled sharply as he moved to a standing position “Hey, uh Cap?” 

“Tony, what happened? Did you find something?” 

Tony allowed himself to believe the concern in Steve's voice was for him and not for the mission before he responded “Make sure you keep your guard up, these people have soft point bullets”

“And that means?” Thor asked his voice somewhat strained as if he had just finished lifting something heavy.

“It means that these bullets expand on impact. If they were to hit a bone it would shatter and I don't know about you but I don't think anyone here would want to get benched for missions” He finished. Wait, would bullets even hurt Thor? Or what if they do but Asgardians just heal quickly? He would have to ask later.

“Alright, Moral of the story is don't get hit by the pencil bullets” Clint huffed.

“I mean basically, except for the fact that it's not lead in pencils”

“Then what the fuck is in pencils?”

“It's actually graphite. Apparently the reason everyone calls it lead it that-”

“Clint, Tony” Natasha growled, “The mission if you would”. Clint muttered a quick apology while Tony grumbled a swift ‘yes yes I know’. As he continued down the narrow corridor it became more and more apparent that there was a strange noise (tapping?), Probably muddled from the buildings weird acoustics, being made somewhere deeper inside of the structure. Tony stopped for a moment, to see if it was him making the noise, but as the tapping continued he realized it couldn't have been him.

The noise began to get louder, or more likely, closer. The footsteps, as Tony soon chalked them up to be, were coming from the exact door he was heading towards. He raised his repulsors and got into a defensive position, the quiet whir echoing off the walls.

“...All I'm saying is that It had to be done” A man's voice said “I Mean, Look at how the bitch got my arm” he argued in an exasperated yet amused tone. A chuckle from a second party, a woman from what Tony could tell, followed soon after. There were a few seconds where neither spoke.

“Had to be done or not, doesn't change the fact that the boss is gonna be pissed off” She chuckled again “When the crowds come for you with pitchforks and torches I'm not gonna cover for you”.

“Oh come on you relic, it can't be that bad” His sentence was punctuated by the sharp twist of the doorknob and the anxious scraping of the door being shoved open. Tony could hear their voices clearly as one of them, he was guessing the man, held the door open, casting a look over his shoulder and toward his counterpart who was right behind him. “Things will cool down after a while I'm sure,” He turned away from her and, when faced with Tony, stopped immediately in his tracks.

He wore a silver mask that covered up his nose and wrapped around the bottom half of his face while keeping his hair and eyes exposed. He wore all black pants and shoes (Cliche isn't it?), along with a bloodied T-shirt to match. Tony's eyes drifted down to the man's right arm, Examining the large gash that went down from his forearm to his wrist. Small droplets of blood slipped off his hand which lay limply at his side while his other was firmly planted on his elbow, probably in some vain attempt to ebb the pain. Despite the distance, Tony could see how his eyes narrowed for a moment before shifting into an icy blue glare. “What, What is it?” The women asked from behind him, pushing him out of the doorway and into the hall so she could see what all the fuss was about. Her eyes widening as they landed on Tony.

“Oh,” She announced lamely, stepping slightly to the right of her partner so they both fit in the hallway. Tony took the opportunity to raise his repulsors higher the quiet whir increasing to a high pitched shriek.

“If you know what's good for you, I suggest you put down your weapons and come with me” Tony cautioned, watching intently as they looked at each other. This continued for a few more seconds before the shorter of the two, the women, hesitantly nodded. As if on cue the man reached behind him, taking out a small and sleek handgun. Tony had already been prepared to fire, the small glow emanating from the middle of his hand growing brighter in a quiet threat.

At this the man looked at him, his glare replaced with a more somber and considerate look “Don't worry” He soothed “It's not for you”. Before Tony could question him further he had already raised the gun to his friends head and without any hesitation pulled the trigger. Tony stared dumbly at where she stood, gaze lowering to where she landed quickly after.

“What?” He whispered quietly, the electronic filter on his suit hiding the shaky surprise in his voice. The silence was once again broken by another shot and something limp hitting something before returning again. Tony looked at where he saw the man standing last, mortified when he found that he wasn't standing anymore but slumped up against the wall. He took in the two newly made corpses in front of him and watched repulsed as blood slowly stained the white walls, and only a few inches away, a puddle of red on the ground steadily grew in size.

Something was missing.

It was only after he tore his eyes away from the blood, which had now reached his suit, did he notice Jarvis' frantic requests for him to speak. He took a steadying breath “I'm okay J, I'm okay”. He allowed himself a minute to gather his bearings “Captain?” He hesitantly asked, having not yet fully recovered from the inner turmoil of confusion and disgust which had settled in his gut.

“We heard the gunshots as well” Steve reassured.

“Trust me I am 100% aware of the gunshots”

A beat of silence. “Did you come into contact with hostiles?”

“Yes, I did but…” His gaze lowered back to the bodies “Those bullets weren't meant for me”.

“Suicide?” Natasha asked nonchalant yet attentive, reading the situation like a book.

“Homicide then suicide” Tony corrected, taking the silence over the line as a cue to elaborate “He turned the gun on his partner, then used it on himself when I tried to apprehend them. I suggest sneaking up on them, either that or create some kind of distraction, since I don't think the traditional capture method is going to go over well we these people”.

“Good idea Stark. Natasha, go meet up with Tony and Clint hold your position. Bruce remains on standby. If you happen to bump into any hostiles use your partner as a distraction while the other takes them out from behind” Steve ordered. A string of affirmatives followed the captain's order from everyone but Tony.

Tony thought it over for a moment but ultimately decided it would be best to continue “I can't.”

“Don't be an ass Stark” Clint warned albeit a bit playfully.

“Tony” Bruce mumbled, “Why can't you follow the order?”

“Something they said makes me think there's someone here who might need help.” The tense silence that followed did nothing to ebb Tony's growing anxiety at his own inaction. “Look, I would love to follow the order but I need to check if there's anyone here first.”

“Fine, but make it quick.” Came Steve's begrudging answer.

Tony didn't know what to say to that, so he chose not to say anything as he tried (and failed) to make his way towards the door while avoiding the puddles of blood. Good thing his suit was redder than it was gold or else it would have looked like he stomped someone to death.

In a few long strides, he made it to the door, opening it quickly so it wouldn't make the loud grating noise it had just a few moments ago.

He prepared himself for the possibility of seeing another dead body today as he passed the threshold of the door and into the other room. He took in the sight of the band room before him, once again, he noticed how painfully ordinary the building was. The room was filled with nothing but cubicles, and nothing was out of place, well except for the papers and folders that were scattered about but that was excusable (Read: Evacuation). The only thing worth further examination was maybe, just maybe, the room (Office?) located at the back of the workspace. 

The door, which was lined with bullet holes, was propped open slightly (Maybe this was the room they were in?). Tony didn't give it much thought as he made his way towards the door, casting quick glances at the nick-nacks and photos scattered about on the desks he could see. Once again it seemed like an ordinary building with ordinary people working in it. (He winced slightly as he noticed a broken picture frame of a family on the floor, and hoped whoever it belonged to made it back home.)

He stopped as he came face to face with the door, able to take in the full extent of the damage done to it. At this distance he could clearly see the bullet holes, though they didn't see to be that anymore, they were... something. Despite the fact that they were the same size as a bullet, they were too neat to have actually been made by one. They lacked any splinters and looked as though someone had taken the time to smooth them out.

They were just like the creators outside.

Pushing the coincidence to the side for later investigation, he lazily pushed open the door. He looked to the left and wasn't surprised when met with the sight of an oval-shaped conference table, surrounded by black chairs (Oh, looks like they were the ones that spun, he loves those ones). And to his right there was-

 

Blood.

 

There was so much blood.

 

 

And she was so, so small.

**Author's Note:**

> As I said at the beginning I wanted to make some changes to the story, but I wanted some help making said choices.
> 
> First, I was wondering where in the Marvel timeline this story should take place in, I was thinking somewhere between the first Avengers movie and Age of Ultron. But, depending on when the story takes place I can have some characters make cameos or even be apart of the story. So, yeah idk.
> 
> Second, I'm sure you all noticed that this work is part of a series now with the title of the original story. In it, I was thinking of having at least two more fanfictions related to this one. One of them will be about, if you've been here before, you-know-who's backstory and the other will be a series of one-shots about little ideas that pop into my head from time to time.
> 
> I have more changes I wanna add, but for the sake of not spoiling it for anyone who hasn't read the original, I'm gonna end it here, and ask more questions later.
> 
> Until next time!


End file.
